Never Forget
by CommonKnowledge
Summary: Clay is sad, Omi wants to know why, Kimiko and Raimundo explain and everyone remembers.


Short little story here in remembrance of 9/11. I feel like it is too quickly dismissed theses days and I needed to get some things off my chest. I cried while I wrote this. Please remember and honor all those killed on this day six years ago.

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"My friends," Omi asked coming to where Raimundo and Kimiko sat in the shade of one of the temple porticos, "do you know why Clay seems to be so melancholy?" Kimiko looked up from where she was working on her PDA and glanced over where Clay sat along under the shade of a tree a few feet off. He was out of hearing distance but Kimiko knew he was talking on her cell phone. She'd lent it to him well over an hour ago but Kimiko wasn't concerned, knowing that he needed to talk to his family at the moment. Rai glanced over as well and shrugged, turning his attention back to his video game.

"Just let him be Omi," Rai suggested.

"But if our friend is upset about something," Omi protested, "we should work to bring him joy."

"Clay just needs a little space right now," Kimiko explained. "He's a bit home sick."

"Really?" Omi asked surprised. Kimiko nodded and toyed with telling Omi what was really bothering Clay.

"It's complicated," Kimiko told him. "Clay's just sad; it's a sad kind of day."

"Why?" Omi asked sitting in front of Kimiko clearly expecting some sort of explanation.

"He's upset cause it's the anniversary of nine-eleven," Rai said simply still focused on his video game.

"Oh?" Omi said curious looking at Kimiko and then looked back at Kimiko. "What is 9-11?" Kimiko opened her mouth to explain but Raimundo broke in again.

"It's the day America got attacked."

"Clay's homeland?" Omi asked. "But it so large!"

"Rai's making it sound simple," Kimiko told Omi sadly.

"It is simple," Rai interjected. "America pissed off a bunch of people and they fought back. Simple as that."

"No it's not Raimundo," Kimiko snapped back.

"Oh really?" Rai asked pausing his game and looking over at Kimiko smugly. "Then do explain please," Rai encouraged and Kimiko glared back.

"You know that it's complicated," Kimik snapped at him.

"You're making it complicated," Rai said wagging a finger at her.

"I'm not making it complicated," Kimiko growled back, "it is complicated on its own." Kimiko looked at Omi. "It goes back hundreds and hundreds of years Omi. It's almost too complex to completely explain."

"I am most confused," Omi sighed and Kimiko took pity on him.

"You see Omi, back on this day, in 2001, a group of people who hate America and all Americans attacked in New York City and Washington DC. Their only goal was to cause fear and to kill as many people as possible."

"Why?" Omi asked the obvious question.

"That's where it gets confusing," Kimiko told him and looked over at Raimundo. "If it's so simple than why don't you explain Raimundo," Kimiko challenged sweetly and Raimundo flushed slightly.

"Well," Rai started off uneasily as Omi turned his attention on Raimundo. Finally Rai let out a huge sigh and rubbed the back of his head. "Ok, maybe it isn't that simple."

"These people," Omi pressed on, "who are they and why do they hate America?"

"They're called al-Qaeda," Kimiko said softly, "and they believe in something so strongly that they're willing to kill for it." Omi looked confused so Kimiko went on. "They're what you'd call radical Islamist."

"I know of Islam!" Omi interrupted. "It is related to Christianity and Judaism correct?" Kimiko nodded and Omi frowned in confusion. "But Islam is a religion of peace, is it not?" Kimiko looked sadly at her lap and fiddled with her PDA.

"Most believe it is but some, like those who are a part of al-Qaeda, warp the message and think that they need to kill all those who don't believe in Islam."

"Why?" Omi asked.

"Why does Chase Young believe that they Heylin is the way to go?" Rai asked shrugging. "Its nice to think that everything is simply black and white," Rai went on, "but very few things actually are."

"And these people have focused their anger and hatred on America?" Omi asked not knowing how to respond to what Raimundo had said.

"Them and a few others, mostly people who support America and are their friends," Kimiko nodded sadly.

"I'm still confused," Omi said sounding somewhat upset at not understanding.

"History is complicated," Rai said moving to sit next to Kimiko as she nodded in agreement.

"You can trace everything back in history. You can always trace something back to something else. The Cold War happened because of World War Two, World War Two happened because of World War One, World War One happened because of Imperialism, Imperialism was spurred on by the Industrial Revolution that only happened because of the Agricultural Revolution and so on and so forth," Kimiko said waving a hand in the air. "You can go back in time forever. Nothing happens out of the blue." Both Raimundo and Omi looked at her impressed.

"That was impressive," Rai told her and Kimiko smiled with a tiny blush.

"Basically Omi," Kimiko told him, "and this is very basic, people in the west tried to rearrange things, people, places, because they thought it was helping. But the people who were doing thing didn't really understand all that was involved and it only made people upset, angry, and vengeful. Those feelings have carried through to today and have only grown stronger over time." Rai listened to her explanation and silently agreed that it was very simplified but explained enough for Omi to understand. There was silence as Omi contemplated it and Kimiko and Raimundo got lost in their own thoughts.

"What, what exactly happened on September 11th?" Omi finally asked. Raimundo and Kimiko exchanged glances before Kimiko finally conceded and spoke again.

"Do you remember New York City?" Kimiko asked.

"Where I met Jermaine and we retrieved the Serpents tail?" Omi asked perking up slightly. "Yes, of course I remember."

"That was where is started, very early in the morning," Kimiko told him. "Groups on men took over different airplanes and…" Kimiko broke off and then started over again. "The first group of men," Kimiko explained looking at her PDA as she pulled up images of the day, "took an airplane, a big one, the commercial kind that had over a hundred people on it, they took it over, killed the pilots."  
"It's called a hijacking," Raimundo explained. "They took control of the plane and the people on it."

"There were these two tall towers, the tallest in the world, called the World Trade Center," Kimiko said turning over her PDA and showing Omi a picture of the towers when they were still standing. "They took the hijacked airplane and flew it into one of the towers."

"The buildings were that big," Omi said in wonder. Kimiko sadly clicked the next picture on the slide show she'd found and showed on the building exploding with the impact of the first plane. She saw Omi's expression change drastically.

"That is horrible," Omi said softly and Rai looked grim knowing that it got worse.

"A little while later," Kimiko said on, choking up slightly, "another plane did the same thing." The next shot showed the second plane flying into the shot of the first burning tower and the second tower exploding in flames. Omi didn't say anything, his eyes staying locked on the video.

"Next," Kimiko said softly again. "A third plane was heading for Washing DC, the capital of the US. People think it was looking for the White House, where the president of the United States lives, but because of the trees, they couldn't see it. So they chose the Pentagon instead."

"What is the Pentagon?" Omi asked.

"It's a building in Washington," Rai explained, "that's shaped like a Pentagon. It's the center of the US military."

"And a third plane crashed into it?" Omi said looking at the picture again, this time showing the Pentagon being attacked. Kimiko nodded and sniffed, realizing now that she was crying as she remembered it. Rai placed a comforting arm around her shoulders and Kimiko smiled sadly back at him.

"What happened next?" Omi asked almost apprehensively.

"The towers, the twin towers," Kimiko sniffed, "couldn't hold themselves up after the planes crashed into them. And they fell."

"Did everyone make it out?" Omi asked immediately and Kimiko looked his surprised, realizing he really didn't understand.

"When the planes crashed," Rai explained for Kimiko, "they hit the buildings, about three quarters of the way up. There were 110 stories in each building. Everything caught fire, very quickly. People were trapped above where the planes hit. Some of them," Rai struggled with the words, "some of them jumped to get away. They were so high that it was like jumping into blackness. They never felt anything." Kimiko couldn't contain her tears anymore and Omi too looked horrified. "Not everyone made it out but some did," Rai went on softly. "People tried to get out, but not everyone could. Lots of people, firefighters, police officers, and just normal citizens, went in to help the people that were trapped. And when the towers fell, they didn't have a chance Omi.

The towers collapsed, one by one, and each time there were people still inside that became trapped in the rubble when it fell. People on the streets, they ran from the dust cloud and all the debris that fell. It was like watching a movie, it didn't seem real. That's when so many died."

"All the police officers, all the firefighters that were in there trying to save people," Kimiko sniffed loudly as she spoke, "they were all killed trying to save other people. They were real heroes Omi."

"And then one more thing happened," Rai said as his hand tightened on Kimiko's shoulders.

"There was more?" Omi asked in disbelief. Kimiko nodded and wiped her eyes with the sleeve of her robes.

"Another plane," Kimiko said in a shaky voice, "was also hijacked. They were far away from their target and the people on the plane called their loved ones and realized what was going on. They decided, this big group of strangers, decided that they couldn't let this plane kill anymore people. With no weapons, except things they found on the plane, like boiling water, the cockpit where the hijackers were, even though they'd been threaten with bombs. The hijackers realized that they were about to be captured, that these people were going to over power them and they choose death over that. They crashed the plane into a field in Pennsylvania. Who knows how many people they saved with that sacrifice?"

"And this is why Clay is so sad?" Omi asked completely understanding why the Earth Dragon would be so upset. Kimiko nodded.

"It the anniversary of when it happen," Rai said solemnly. "The whole world, not just America, changed that day. Everything is different because of it."

"Did Clay know someone who died that day?" Omi asked and Kimiko glanced at Raimundo who shrugged.

"I don't think so," Kimiko answered.

"Then why is he so," Omi looked over to where Clay was still sitting, looking depressed, "sad."

"Why are you sad?" Kimiko asked him and Omi jerked slightly in surprise.

"Because it was horrible," Omi said slowly, "that so many innocents died. That there is such hatred in the world and that it can drive people into doing something so awful."

"Before the attacks," Rai explained, "a lot of people, Clay included, didn't realize that things like that really existed. People were sheltered."

"It's a big remaindered that nothing is the same as it was," Kimiko added. "Even though Clay didn't know anyone specifically that died, it was like he did."

"Should we not be with him then?" Omi asked looking between Raimundo and Kimiko.

"I guess we should," Rai agreed and they stood walking over to where Clay sat.

"Hey guys," Clay said smiling sadly as they approached.

"Clay my friend," Omi said sitting next to Clay, "I am very sorry for your loss." Clay seemed surprised and then gave a sad smile.

"Thanks," he told him and then looked at Kimiko and Raimundo. "I guess you told him then."

"He wanted to know why you were so sad," Kimik explained. "I'm sorry we didn't come over earlier."

"Why's that?" Clay asked.

"Just remembering it was so sad for me," Kimiko explained and appreciated the shoulder squeeze she received from Raimundo, "I can't imagine how hard it must be for you."

"Yeah know, it is hard," Clay admitted as Kimiko and Raimudo sat as well. "But at the same time, it's a good kind of hurt. Its like, as long as I keep remembering, then the people that died that day will always be remembered and maybe then they won't have died in vain."

"I can't imagine people ever being able to forget," Omi said with a short nod of his head.

"You'd be surprised," Clay said glumly.

"Well I'll never forget," Omi said determinately and Clay blinked in surprise.

"Me either," Rai added.

"Me either," Kimik chorused. Clay was still slightly stunned but then smiled.

"Thanks guys," he said happily.

"You're smiling Clay," Omi said excitedly.

"Yes I am," Clay agreed.

"I did not think that you would smile on this day," Omi observed.

"Well," Clay sighed, "it's ok to be upset and sad but if that's all you dwell on then you might become like the people that attacked on nine-eleven. It's ok to mourn the deaths but its equally important to celebrate the lives that were lived. I think its ok to smile about that."


End file.
